El Leon

"El Leon" was a Colombian drug trafficker associated with the Medellin Cartel. In 1979, he smuggled some of the first cocaine into the American city of Miami via his contact Carlos Lehder, beginning a drug epidemic that enriched the cartel.

Biography
"El Leon" (meaning "the Lion") was a friend of Gustavo Gaviria who spent his childhood in the United States, and he was fluent in both English and Spanish. In 1979, Gaviria recruited him into the Medellin Cartel, and Gaviria's cousin Pablo Escobar gave him a suit that was packed with three kilograms of cocaine, telling him to head to Miami and sell the cocaine for a high price. Leon met neo-Nazi and drug smuggler Carlos Lehder more than twenty times, bringing jackets full of cocaine from Medellin to Miami each trip, bringing drugs in and taking cash out. The rich and famous from the city purchased the drug, and Leon was able to bring back tons of money to his friends.